Huntsville's U.S. Space & Rocket Center hosting von Braun celebration

The von Braun celebration will be in the Saturn V Hall in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. (The Huntsville Times)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is hosting a birthday party on what would have been the 100th birthday of rocket pioneer Dr. Wernher von Braun.

The March 23 event will be at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. There will be German food and traditional German music performed by Terry Cavanagh and the Alpine Express.

The special guest speaker will be von Braun's daughter, Dr. Margrit von Braun, the dean of the College of Graduate Students at the University of Idaho. She will speak beneath the Saturn V rocket.

Von Braun's other daughter, Iris Robbins, will also attend the event.

The Huntsville Community Chorus will perform a composition written by von Braun when he was 15 years old. It is the only known von Braun musical composition that contains lyrics.

A number of personal friends of the von Braun family from across the United States and from Germany will attend, said Dr. Deborah Barnhart, the center's CEO.

The party will be "a traditional German birthday party," Barnhart said, "and will be a celebration of von Braun's life and achievements."

Everyone with a paid admission will be able to visit the center's exhibit, "100 Years of Von Braun: His American Journey," at no additional cost.

The March 23 event is sponsored by Lockheed Martin. Proceeds from the $100-a-plate dinner will go to a scholarship in von Braun's name.